We put a lot of emphasis on parental involvement in your child’s education. Educational research shows the beneficial effects it has. A positive partnership between the school and parents, with active parental involvement, helps pupils’ personal, academic and spiritual development during their vital years in school.
Parents are as important as teachers in:
- monitoring learning – regularly discussing learning, homework and attainment with your child.
- fostering values and good character – supporting your child’s personal development and encouraging them to develop a positive character.
- supporting organisation – helping your child to be organised for success, by having all the right equipment and uniform and by being in the right place at the right time.
- motivating and raising aspirations – motivating your child and encouraging them to fulfil the potential with which they have been blessed.
We believe that by working with parents and our excellent pastoral care we ensure our pupils will flourish and become the best possible versions of themselves that they can be.
Our children
The children in our school are at the very centre of school life. We want them to feel welcomed, safe, secure and part of our school family. They need to experience excitement, fun, enjoyment and challenge, so we provide a broad and balanced curriculum to meet these needs. Children are expected to work hard and achieve the very best that they are able to. We want our children to be able to communicate, value and respect all of those around them, regardless of age, background, culture and belief, so we encourage and expect good manners, behaviour and conduct. We want our children to have good memories of their time at Orchard Head, but also to take away with them achievement, confidence, respect for and tolerance of others, and, above all, curiosity – the vital ingredient that turns ability and application into real achievement.
Our parents/carers
We regard parents/carers as the ‘prime educators’ of their child(ren) and our role is to support them in this crucial role. Together, we all have high expectations; that children attend school every day, that their behaviour and conduct will make us proud of them, that their achievements will be the very best that we know them to be capable of, that their tolerance and respect for others will be a model to others and that their enjoyment and pleasure in learning will carry them forward, making them ambitious and successful in the rest of their school life.
Regular communications
An effective partnership is dependent on good communication, and we are committed to regular, accurate, useful communications with parents.
We welcome parents contacting the school and do all we can to help with your questions and enquiries. Our website is the main source of news and information about the school. As well as this we have:
For daily updates, please follow our Twitter account @carletonparksch. We love updating Twitter every day with achievements, surprises, events, trips, or simply fabulous moments! There is never a dull moment in a school, and we really enjoy updating our followers daily while celebrating our amazing students and staff.
Follow us @carletonparksch– you never know who or what we’ll be celebrating next.
Newsletters
We produce regular newsletters to keep our parents updated on school life and these will be communicated via MCAS and also found on our website.
Communicating progress
Pupil success is achieved through robust and aspirational target setting and close tracking of progress at all levels, supported by real-time attainment, attendance and behaviour data. In order to keep parents informed of their child’s progress, behaviour and attendance, the school will organise:
- Pupil reports with results of regular tests in each subject. These are posted to homes.
- Meet the teacher in the first half term to talk you through the school’s expectations, procedures and processes and to allow you to share any concerns or ask any questions.
- A parents’ evening to review academic and personal progress once per year.
We would encourage all parents/carers to attend the parents’ evenings to which they have been invited.
Concerns or complaints
Each pupil’s welfare is the responsibility of all of our staff. The school is committed to listening to parents’ concerns and handling them in a sensitive way. The class teacher should be contacted in the first instance. It is always the aim of the school to resolve issues and concerns informally, but a school complaints policy exists for parents who feel that any issues have not been satisfactorily addressed. You can locate our complaints policy on the policies section of our website.
Visiting school
During a normal working day all visitors, including parents, should report to Reception, where visitors will be requested to sign in upon arrival, and sign out when leaving. Visitors must wear a visitor badge. Visitors will be directed to the appropriate offices or asked to wait in the reception area until the member of staff has been notified of your arrival. Visitors wishing to meet individual members of staff are requested to make appointments beforehand.
Our staff and School Performance Review Board
All staff work in close harmony, both as a professional body and with the children, to ensure a calm, sympathetic and stimulating working environment at Orchard Head. They provide children with an exciting and creative curriculum, along with stimulating experiences which support their learning. Our teachers know each child well and ensure that learning experiences are differentiated, so that all children make the very best progress that they can. Staff are caring, well trained, child focused and model good conduct and good behaviour, whether they work in the classroom, care for the building/grounds, or have other roles in school, such as supporting attendance, providing lunches or supervision in the playground. Our School Performance Review Board also work hard; they know and understand the school and its children’s needs, and are ambitious for their success.
Our community
We see our community as being not just those around the school, but those beyond it. We regard other local schools, businesses and organisations as potential partners with whom we can work to serve the needs of our children. We also recognise that our school has a responsibility to serve our community and we are always looking for ways in which we can achieve this goal.
At all times, each and every day, we will show respect to everyone and let them see that we appreciate and value them. When we value, respect and appreciate each other, it makes our school a happy, safe, enjoyable and friendly place to work in, to visit and above all, to learn in.